Container spinner for beverage mixers



July 21, 1942. J. KANTOR I 2,290,562

CONTAINER SPINNER FOR BEVERAGE MIxERs Filed July 22, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 V I 1 2 INVENTQR Jamfs Kazfi'ar,

ATTOENEV).

Ju ly21,19 2- J.KANTQR 2,290,562

CONTAINER SPINNER FOR BEVERAGE MIXERS Filed July 22, 1941 2 Sheets-Shet 2 r BY We} Patented July 21, 1942 UNITED STATES" OFFICE CONTAINER SPINNER FOR BEVERAGE MIXERS Application July 22, 1941, Serial No. 403,561

8 Claims.

The present invention relatesto machines for oscillating and spinning beverage containers for the purpose of thoroughly mixing the contents of the containers.

The apparatus is particularly applicable for handling carbonated beverages. These beverages generally consist of a certain proportion of flavoring syrup and a proportion of carbonated water. As a rule, When the container is filled, the syrup is delivered to the container first and the container then filled with carbonated water. As a result, after the container has been filled, some means must be used for the purpose of shaking or agitating the contents so that the syrup and water will be thoroughly mixed together. One type of machine for handling containers of this character includes a container support which is adapted to oscillate from an upright to an inverted position and back to the upright position and so support the container that the container may be rotated on its own axis, preferably while the container is in an inverted position.

The present invention relates to improvements in this type of apparatus.

For the purpose of disclosing the invention, I have illustrated an embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of so much of a mixing machine as is necessary for the purpose of disclosing my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a container support, portions thereof being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the container support and a portion of the spinner wheel showing a modification of my invention;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a further modification of my invention;

Fig. 5 is a partial longitudinal section of a modification of my invention; and

Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal section of a container support of the type illustrated in Fig. 5.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, I provide a central standard I which is sur rounded by a rotatable sleeve 2 carrying at its upper end a head or table 3. This sleeve is driven by suitable driving mechanism 4 through the medium of driving gear 5.

Arranged at the outer periphery of the table 3 are a plurality of container supports indicated generally at 6. Each of these supports comprises a lower arm 1 extending from a post 8 and an upper arm 9 adjustably mounted on a vertically movable rod 10. The rod is biased in its lowermost position through the medium of a suitable coiled Spring within the hollow post 8. The bottom arm 1 is provided with a pair of downwardly extending yoke arms II which are rotatably mounted on a shaft I 2 in turn mounted in the outer ends of bracket arms I 3 secured to the table 3. By this arrangement, the supporting unit 6 may be oscillated from upright to inverted position to thereby move the container supported therein from an upright to an inverted position, the oscillation of the support being radially with respect to the table 3.

The upper arm 9 carries a downwardly facing clamping cone I4 which is rotatably mounted in bearings :5 carried by the upper arm, and this cone is adapted upon the downward movement of the rod E0 to clamp upon the top of the container. The container is supported upon the table member r-otatably mounted in the lower arm I and comprises an outer cup like member I6 rotatably supported upon a hollow vertical shaft I! in bearings l8. Within thiscup like member I6 is provided a table [9 mounted on a central stem 20 extending through the hollow sleeve-like shaft I i and biased in its raised position through the medium of a coiled spring 2| interposed between the bottom of the stem 20 and a set screw 22 in the bottom of the sleeve ii. The table [9 is restrained against undue projection through the medium of a shoulder 23, on the stem 20, which is larger than the opening in the bottom of the cup like member It. By this arrangement, when a bottle or other container is clamped in position upon the support 6, the downward clamping movement of the cone M will force the container, and with it the table I9, slightly downwardly, so that the bottom edges of the bottle engaging the tapered walls of the cup like member will absolutely center the bottle or container.

The container support is oscillated during the rotative movement of the table 3 by a stationarily mounted cam 24. This cam is mounted upon a stationary sleeve 25 surrounding the sleeve 2 and the cam is so developed that during th in and out feed of the container to the supports, the supports are maintained in an upright position. However, as the table rotates, a roller 26 mounted in the arm 1 riding on the cam will move the support 6 from its upright position to an inverted position, as shown in Fig. 1. While the container is in this inverted position, it is also rotated on its own axis through means for driving the supporting member in the lower arm 7. This means comprises a rotating driving disc 21 mounted on a hub 28 surrounding the sleeve 25 and having a gear 23 meshing with a gear 30 on a stub shaft 3! in turn driven by a bevel gear 32 driven from a suitable driving mechanism. The outer periphery of the cup-like member I6 is slightly cone-shaped and comprises, in effect, a friction driving wheel which, when the support is dropped into its inverted position, will contact the periphery of the driving disc 21 so that, while the container is in its inverted position, it will be spun at a very high rate of speed. Obviously, as long as the container is in its inverted position, with the table periphery resting upon the periphery of the driving disc 21, the container will be rotated. However, as soon as the container support commences to move into its upright position again, due to the contour of the cam 24, the driving connection will be broken'and the spinning stopped.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a modification of the drive between the driving disc 21 and the bottle supporting table. In this structure the cup like member is provided on. its outer periphery with a pair of slidable rings 33 and 36 surrounding the member i5 and maintained on the ring through the medium of a shoulder on the top of the ring and the plate 38 which is of greater diameter than the member It and to which the member 16 is fastened. The facing edges of the rings 33 and 3d are beveled as at 31 and the rings are biased toward one another through the medium of coiled springs 38 surrounding bolts 39 passing through the two rings. The driving edge or periphery of the disc 21 is wedge shaped as at 13 and is adapted to fit between the beveled faces 31 of the rings 33 to thereby insure a better frictional engagement between the driving disc 27 and the driven table, thus insuring a friction drive for spinning the bottle.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a further modification of this structure. In this figure the rings 33 and 34, corresponding to the rings 33 and S4 of Fig. 3, have their outer faces beveled as at 4| thereby providing a V-shaped edge adapted to fit within a V-shaped groove 42 in the periphery of the driving disc 21. The driving effect of this arrangement is the same as that provided in the structure illustrated in Fig. 3.

In the structure illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, I have shown a modification of the invention disclosed in the other figures of the application wherein the spinner wheel is brought closer to the pivot point of the container support. In the structure illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the rotatable head 41 carries, as in the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, the container supports 42, each of which is pivoted at 43 on a bracket 44 bolted to the head 4!. The supports of the upwardly extending clamping member 35 corresponding to the member 6 illustrated in Fig. 1 and the bottom member of each support includes a hollow spindle it-'5 supported on the bracket 41. The top of this spindle receives a centering cup 48 which is adapted to be held on the spindle 46 by a split ring 39 fitting within grooves in the ring and spindle head. Vertically movable within the cup 48 is a table 50 mounted on the top of a pin 5| operating within the hollow spindle 46 and the table and pin are biased upwardly by a coiled spring 52. lhe bracket 41 of the support carries at its outer end a roller 53 which rides on a cam 54 supported on a bracket 55 stationarily mounted on a platform 55. This cam is relatively short and maintains the container supporting member in its upright position during the in and out feed of the containers to the supporting members.

The lower end of the spindle 46 is provided with a wheel 56 preferably having a hardened steel face, and this wheel, as illustrated in Fig. 5, is adapted to make contact with a driving disc 51 likewise provided with a hardened steel face 58. This driving disc 5'! is driven in the same manner as is the disc 2'1 illustrated in Fig. 1. It is to be noted, however, that the disc 51 is very close to the rotating platform ll so that the .point of contact between the roller 55 and the driving disc 57 is very close to the pivot point $3 of the container, whereby considerably greater pressure is exerted by the weight of the container in its inverted position, thus insuring a greater friction contact between the parts.

The head 4| is driven in the same manner as is the head 3 in the structure illustrated in Fig. 1.

' I claim as my invention:

1. In a mixing apparatus, a rotary table, a container support mounted thereon and radially tiltable about the periphery of the table from an upright position to an inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table, said support including upper and lower rotary container clamping members, the lower clamping member having a peripheral driven wheel thereon and a driving disc coaxially mounted with respect to and beneath said table, the driven wheel of said support being moved into driving engagement with said disc by the tilting movement of said support from upright to inverted position and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said angular position.

2. In a mixing machine, a rotary table, a container support mounted on said table for tilting and uprighting movement about the periphery of said table and biased in a tilting direction, said support comprising upper and lower container clamping members, the lower clamping member having a driven wheel secured thereto, a cam coaxial with said table and adapted to cause the tilting of said support to inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table and the uprighting movement of said support, a driving disc mounted beneath said table and coaxial therewith, the driven wheel on said support being moved into driving engagement with said disc by the tilting movement of said support from upright to inverted position and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as a result of said angular position.

3. In a mixing machine, a rotary table, a container support mounted on said table and tiltable from an upright to an inverted position about the periphery of said table and including a downwardly facing container clamping member rotatably mounted and an upwardly facing container clamping member rotatably mounted and having a driving wheel, a cam coaxial with said table engaged by said container support and developed to tilt to an inverted position below the plane of said table at less than right angles to the plane of the table and to upright said support, a driving disc mounted beneath said cam coaxial with said table, said driven wheel being moved into engagement with the driving disc by the tilting movement of said support from upright to inverted position and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said angular position and means for driving said disc at a relatively high rate of speed.

4. In a mixing apparatus, a rotary table, a container support mounted thereon radially tiltable about the periphery of the table from an upright to an inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table, said support including upper and lower clamping members, the lower clamping member having associated therewith a driven wheel, a driving disc coaxially mounted with respect to said table beneath the same, the driven wheel being moved into driving engagement with the disc by the tilting movement of the support below the plane of the table and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said angular position, said driven wheel including a pair of axially separable discs biased in one direction and said driving disc having beveled peripheral walls engaging said separable discs and tending to oppose the biasing action on said driven discs.

5. In a mixing apparatus, a rotary table, a container support mounted thereon radially tiltable about the periphery of the table from an upright to an inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table, said support including upper and lower clamping members, the lower clamping member having associated therewith a driven wheel, and a driving disc coaxially mounted with respect to said table beneath the same, said driven wheel being moved into engagement with said driving disc by the tilting movement of the support from an upright to an inverted position and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said angular position, said driven Wheel being axially resilient and having beveled peripheral walls, and a driving disc having oppositely beveled peripheral walls cooperating therewith.

6. In a mixing machine, a rotary'table, a container support mounted thereon and radially tiltable about the periphery of said table to an inclined position at less than a right angle to the plane of the table below the plane of said table, said support including upper and lower clamping members, the lower clamping member having associated therewith a driven wheel, a driving disc coaxially mounted with respect to said table beneath the same, said driven wheel being moved into driving engagement with said disc by the tilting movement of said support to an inverted position below the plane of the table and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said inclined position, said driven wheel including a pair of discs axially separable and biased toward one another and said driving disc having a wedge shaped periphery adapted to engage between said separable discs.

7. In a mixing apparatus, a rotary table, a container support mounted thereon and radially tiltable about the periphery of the table from an upright to an inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table, said support including upper and lower clamping members, the lower clamping ,member having associated therewith a driven wheel, a driving disc coaxially mounted with respect to said table beneath the table, the driven wheel being moved into driving engagement with said disc by the tilting of said support from an upright to an inverted position and maintained in said driving engagement by its weight as the result of said angular position, said driven wheel including a pair of axially separable discs biased toward separated position and said driving disc having a V-shaped groove adapted to receive the peripheries of said separable discs.

8. In a mixing apparatus, a rotary table, a container support mounted thereon and radially tiltable about the periphery of the table from an upright position toan inverted position below the plane of the table at less than right angles to the plane of the table and gravity biased toward an inverted position, said support including upper and lower rotary container clamping members, the lower clamping member having a peripheral driven wheel thereon, a cam mounted beneath the table coaxially therewith and having a portion engaged by said support for moving the support and holding the same in an upright position, and a portion permitting said support to tilt to an inverted position under the influence of gravity, a driving disc coaxially mounted beneath said table, said driven wheel being moved into driving engagement with said disc by the tilting movement of said support and maintained in driving engagement with said disc by the weight of said support and the container supported thereon.

JAMES KANTOR. 

